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: : The 5:2 Fast Diet : :

Update July 14: I am no longer doing the Fast Diet, but wanted to keep this page active, as I know it's still applicable to so many people and there's lots of recipes to try out if you are Fasting! My reasons for stopping are predominantly because of the additional migraines I was getting, which unfortunately seemed to be from fasting. I achieved my weight loss goals, and so decided to stop Fasting, and now am eating cleaner, leaner and greener EVERYDAY!

You can read my original post about it here, which explains a little bit about why I wanted to start this lifestyle and the motivation I have to keep going each week.

About the 5:2 Fast Diet

The 5:2 Diet is very simple. For 2 days of the week you "fast" and restrict your food intake to 500 calories, which is 1/4 of your standard dietary intake. These days of intermittant fasting are ideally spread out during the week amongst the five other regular days. On the 5 other days you don't need to be counting calories, you just go about your normal life (unless your normal life sees you eating cake 3 times a day, which may need to be altered). All of this of course, with being gluten free as well!

I always found my most successful form of exercising was doing interval training, and I feel like this is interval training but for food! The two days of fasting are those high-paced sprints that you do amongst a brisk walk.

The Fast Diet Community

One of my favourite things about the Fast Diet is the community of Fasters who I have had the pleasure of getting to know since starting. There are some wonderful blogs/twitter/IG/pinterest accounts to follow to get other recipe ideas and advice and my favourite few are:

Additionally, I post all of my Fasting foods to my Pinterest board called #LoseDayTuesday if you're looking for some quick inspiration.

My Health Benefits

Other than the obvious expected weight loss results, I have seen a change in a lot of things over the course of doing the Fast Diet in areas that I was worried would be worsened by fasting.

1. Migraines

Being on the Fast Diet had such varied reactions with migraines for me. It started off making them much worse, then it tapered off a little, and then my migraines were very much linked to my Fast Days.

It is for this reason that I had to stop Fasting, but if you notice your migraines improve, kudos to you!!

My advice would be to make sure you really watch your water intake, and to start with, spread your calories out over lots of small meals, to allow your blood sugar levels to slowly even out. It gets easier, but allow your body some time to adjust. I have fasted ON a migraine day and to be honest, it doesn't make a shred of difference to the actual attack. No better, no worse, and if you're feeling rubbish anyway, you may as well be doing something good for your body while it is suffering.

2. Digestive system

My digestive issues are long and complicated. Here's the cliff notes: in 2003 I started feeling very unwell and after 10 colonoscopies/endoscopies/all-other-types-of-oscopies over several years and even major bowel surgery, it was determined that I have both Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Inflammatory Bowel Disease. And add to this, I am now gluten intolerant as well.

Being gluten intolerant actually makes Fasting easier rather than harder. I thought it would be restricting my options even further, but in actual fact, products with gluten in them are typically high calorie anyway, so very few of the recipes for a Fast Day have gluten in them anyway.

The big change though is how I feel during and after a Fast Day, digestively. My body has had a break from food and can really just rest and recover. I have had digestive troubles going on 10 years now, and so getting the odd "episode" here and there is rarely a bother to me. I get far fewer tummy pains and bloating now, and I attribute this to the reduction in intake twice a week, and the two rest day's my body gets to digest and rest.

Digest and rest.

3. Energy levels

Definitely not at first. The first week or two were really hard for me and I struggled a lot. I was grumpy and exhausted, I felt like I was missing some much needed fuel. But as the weeks went on, I noticed the opposite was happening.

As I was giving my body a break from the heavy duty task of digesting high calories every day, I found myself having that energy to spare. I found myself able to exercise more and found that I started waking up each day feeling somewhat refreshed, we really and truly is a first for me. I've felt "sluggish" my whole life, so to wake up in the morning and not be counting the hours until my next sleep is a pleasant and welcomed change.

There have been just so many subtle changes that have happened since starting the Fast Diet that I am recommending it to anyone and everyone! Other than pregnant/breastfeeding mums, I think it is worth everyone having a month or two trial to see if it improves your quality of life too!

Weekly Summary

It has been an interesting journey over the past few months, and not only have I consistently (albeit slowly) lost weight each week, but I have discovered so much about myself too.

Week 1 I really just got my bearing and battled through the first two fasts. They were by far the hardest of them all. I was so hungry and had rip-roaring headaches on both of the days.

Week 2 was encouraging as I discovered I had already lost 0.5kg, despite a rather indulgent few days away. I loved the fish taco's I made this week, they were filling and delicious!

Week 3 was one of my more challenging weeks. I was dealing with some upsetting personal situations and then had stress induced migraines. The positivity I created this week was the pride I had in myself for sticking to east Fast, even though my body and heart was beckoning me to the hot chips!

Week 4 was when I first noticed the start of changes in my body. I was feeling lighter, but more importantly I had stopped feeling the rush to eat whenever I felt a hunger pang. I also gladly discovered that seafood is pretty low in calories, so started getting creative with my shellfish dinners!

Week 5 was when I started really balancing out my meals on non-fast days. I started planning my non-fast days better and if I knew something deliciously naughty was coming, would cut way back on other meals.

Week 6 I discovered the Chorizo & Butterbean soup this week, and have made it once a week ever since, I truly can't get enough of it! I also delved into a topic regarding Non-Food Cuddles, and identified all the ways I could reward/comfort myself that don't involve sugar!

Week 7 was the week I coined "onwards and downwards". I didn't have any weight loss this week, and so my plateau was upsetting me a little!

Week 8 and yet another week plateauing! I started swimming again this week and started writing out some goals for the week ahead, to keep me on track!

Week 9 was plateau-breaking, thank goodness, and I noticed that I no longer wanted to eat until I felt full, I stopped when I have had enough. This is huge for me. I usually finish my plate. And any other plate that is within reach!

Week 10, goodness, 10 weeks already! It was Christmas Eve and so this Fast Day was very necessary! My husband did it with me for support, which actually was a lot of fun!

Week 11 Not surprisingly I gained weight over the previous two weeks of no-fasts and lots of sickness. I was in no state to Fast or exercise, so it was expected to have gained weight. But starting the new year with new motivation got the ball rolling again, with high hopes for a strong-willed month to come!

Week 12 I started my 30 to 30 Plank Challenge this week and shed my Christmas bulge! All after finally beating a persistent cold.

Week 13 The 400g I lost this week didn't feel very significant, but I took some time to reflect on the bigger picture and realised that actually, I've done really well and am so much fitter and healthier than I was just 6 months ago.

Week 14 and another week being sick! Not hugely inspirational in terms of results, but I did manage to kick my cold to the curb with a trio of veggie soups!

Stay tuned for next week's results!

If you are thinking of starting the 5:2 Fast Diet and want to ask any other questions, I love talking about it, so please reach out! I also love hearing from experienced Fasters and learning new and better ways of successfully embracing the Fast Lifestyle!